Following on from the last post, Alan Nevies and his colleagues at northlondonosteopaths have observed that the debate about the best treatment for back pain continues. This time “useless jabs”, probably referring to epidural spinal injections, have been the object of scrutiny. There are occasions when Alan Nevies and his colleagues might recommend such a course of action. For example when a patient presents with neurological symptoms and acute radiating pain down their leg, a epidural injection may be indicated. The benefit of this procedure would be to reduce the swelling around the nerve root and allow time for the disc to heal. Thus sometimes the jab is clearly not useless. In conjunction Alan Nevies and his colleagues at northlondonosteopaths might recommend gentle exercise including swimming. Traction may also be helpful depending on the nature and cause of the problem. Remember every case is different and treatment plans will be varied.

It is important to understand that a spinal injection would be recommended after thorough examination. Where appropriate the traditional osteopathic techniques of manipulation, articulation, traction and soft tissue massage would be applied first. When experienced neurosurgeons are agreeing that far too many spinal injections have been performed by spinal surgeons in recent years it is surely a good thing that this number is reduced to the specific patients who really need and benefit from them. In this too northlondonosteopaths has a role to play, acting as a filter.